Fairbury for a newbie?

[waterPumper]

Hello everyone. I have been lurking on this site and am amazed by amount of knowledgeable people and their willingness to help and share. This is sure to be a lifesaver for my fledgling windmill journey.
I have always loved windmills and want to restore one to use as yard art on my property. It will not be used for pumping water but I want it to be able to spin and turn in the wind and be able to apply the break to keep it safe in extreme windy conditions. A working pump rod would be nice too, should I ever decide to aerate a pond in the future, but is not necessary. Preserving history is also very appealing to me but I am not looking for a museum quality mill when done.
I have found a disassembled Fairbury that I have interest in buying. I am relatively familiar with the mechanics of Aermotors due to their prevalence but know almost nothing about Fairbury. Internet information on them also seem very minimal. The windmill is located 900 miles away so it would be quite a journey and expense to pick up, but I am not opposed to this. The seller believes it to be an 8 footer but we are unsure what model it is. As you can see the front hub is broken, which we both believe to be fixable or replaceable. He also mentioned that the gearbox spins freely. I understand that these use TIMKEN bearings, which seems very appealing to me since I have no experience with babbitt bearings. The seller assumes that all of the pieces are there but it has sat in pieces for a couple decades. Possible missing tower parts seems less problematic to me than possible missing head, fan and tail parts.
I am a life-long tinkerer with good mechanic skills. While I am not a machinist or have that equipment, I am always up for a challenge.
Any help and advice would be greatly appreciated! Does anybody know what model Fairbury this is? Thanks!
John

[Wayne]

You have a Fairbury No 7. Built from 1920's to 1961. They made some different models A, AA, B. The AA supposed to be the most common. There are some Fairbury collectors on the site that should be able to help.

[mtblah]

John , see how easy that question was ! These guys are really smart .

[CTXmiller]

Welcome to the forum.

This might not help much, but attached are two photos I have on my phone of my in-laws Fairbury 7AA and tower.

Parts list for Fairbury:
viewtopic.php?t=100

[CTXmiller]

You can find parts on eBay for the Fairbury and I’m sure some folks on here have some too. The broken spider hub you have is like $35, plus shipping on eBay.

[waterPumper]

Thanks everyone for your replies. CTXmiller the pictures are most helpful! That looks to be exactly the same mill. Please send other pics if you have any. Does anyone have any idea on a fair price for the one I have posted? The seller and I have discussed $1,000 as/is. This also does not include the approximate $500 to $700 in travel expenses considering today's gas prices. The seller is very up-front and honest and we can revisit the price if need be.

[CTXmiller]

I’d recommend getting photos of what is under the bonnet as well to see the condition of the internals of gearbox. I do have more photos.

[mtblah]

Michael , appears your in-laws are located on the banks of Lake Waco , north end above the bridge .
J24 sailboat races still going ?
Mike B
New Braunfels TX

[Windcatcher530 Dan]

John does that price include a complete wheel and arms?

[CTXmiller]

Michael , appears your in-laws are located on the banks of Lake Waco , north end above the bridge .
J24 sailboat races still going ?
Mike B
New Braunfels TX

Mike,

While they live in Waco, they have a place at Lake Whitney as well. That’s Lake Whitney in the background.